“You can pretend anything and master it.”
- Dr. Milton Erickson, Psychiatrist
A few years back were your surprised when Jamie Foxx won the Academy Award for best actor? I wasn’t.
After all, who usually wins that award? Not the best actor. Not the most skilled actor. Not the most experienced actor. The winner is usually the actor who takes on the most challenging role.
That’s why Jamie Foxx won for his portrayal of Ray Charles. That’s why Dustin Hoffman was a sure thing for “Rain Man” and Tom Hanks couldn’t miss for “Forrest Gump.” And the same goes for Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby.”
Challenging roles create great actors.
You have the opportunity to play a challenging role too. You can be cast to play the part of “the world’s greatest student, athlete, salesperson, etc . . . !” It’s a tougher role than anything Foxx, Hoffman, Hanks, or Swank ever had to do because you’ll have to play the part of someone who is totally focused, insatiably curious, and unstoppably motivated. And the commitment lasts every day, seven-days-a-week.
Most people turn down this role because it is so difficult. For example, most people want to go to school, but they don’t want to become a real student.
As Helen Keller once said, “Life is an exciting adventure or nothing at all.”
You have to read that again: “Life is an exciting adventure or nothing at all.”
More people would accept this role if it were easier. As Dr. M. Scott Peck wrote, “Life is difficult.” Not only is life difficult — it’s supposed to be difficult. In the movie “A League of Their Own,” Tom Hanks, playing the manager of an all-women’s professional baseball team, said “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” Of course, Hanks was speaking about baseball, but he could have been speaking about college.
Will you accept the part? You can start playing this role immediately. For example, if you’re a student as soon as you walk into your next class, act like you are “the world’s greatest student.” Sit in the front row. Sit up straight. Ask questions. Answer questions. Laugh at the professor’s jokes. Act as if you’re “the world’s greatest student.”
After one class, don’t expect someone will come up to you and present you an Oscar, BUT if you keep acting this way you awards and rewards will come. Don’t worry about that. Absolutely, positively, guaranteed!!!
For instant inspiration, call Dr. Gilbert’s Success Hotline at (973) 743-4690. Messages are available 24/7/365. New messages every morning at 7:30.
